Day 4

For clarity in reading this, you will need to note the difference throughout between “LORD” and “Lord.” I had not before noted the distinction, but it adds clarity to several parts of the Bible.
In Exodus chapter 6, God reveals to Moses that even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not know Him by name as “LORD,” or YHWH as it is in the Hebrew. But in Genesis chapter 15, God does appear to Abraham as “LORD.” – note the difference between “LORD,” in Genesis 15:6
“And he believed the LORD, and He counted it unto him as righteousness,”
and “Lord” Genesis 15:2
“…Oh Lord God, what shall You give to me…”
The difference is in the translation, AND the meaning. “LORD” is the same name for God as He delivered to Moses. “Lord” carries the weight of “Lord and Master.”
From the preface of the ESV Bible: “The Old Testament authors used three different Hebrew words to describe God. These are translated as 1) “God,” 2) “Lord” (spelled the way we usually spell it), or 3) “LORD” (spelled with small capital letters). The last one translates God’s personal name. He revealed this name to Moses in Exodus 3:14.”
We know that in Ex 3:14 God told Moses he should tell the Israelites that “I AM” has sent you. This is the same “LORD” translation that we see in both Genesis 15, Exodus 3, 6, and other places throughout the Old Testament. The word “LORD," when spelled with small capital letters, translates the Hebrew word for God’s personal name as “YaHWeH”. “YaHWeH,” God’s personal name, sounds like the Hebrew for “I AM.”
So, what is the reconciliation of God saying to Moses that Abraham did not know Him by name as “LORD,” (Ex. 6:3) and Abraham believing in the “LORD?” (Gen. 6:2). The Bible and God’s Word appear to contradict themselves. “The answer lies in the words that follow in Exodus 6:6-8 where the LORD describes what He would actually do to fulfill the promises of His covenant: He would fight for His people to redeem them from their slavery. So, Abraham had heard the words of the covenant, but the reality of the covenant promises was about to be seen in the mighty acts of God.” Abraham knew God theologically, or by faith, but Moses and the people of Israel were about to come to know the LORD experientially.
We are spending this period of 40 days - seeking God’s voice, - listening to hear Him, - seeking to know Him in a deeper sense. But we need to ask ourselves: Is this a theological/intellectual quest? Or are we willing to “experience” God? Can we affirm that we know God as both LORD, and Lord? Somehow our theoretical and factual knowledge of God must match up with our experience of Him, or we get out of balance.
God, help me to know you experientially. Build the faith that I have in You intellectually, spiritually, and factually, by becoming more real to me in my daily experience with You; where I can experience victory and know that You will deliver and redeem me with Your outstretched arm. Show me victory over temptation, guilt and regret, feelings of inadequacy, and my fleshly nature. Allow me to “know” You as both “LORD YaHWeH,” my deliverer, and as my Lord and Master.